Huron Escapee Caught In Sioux Falls

An inmate who escaped from the Beadle County jail is back in custody. Authorities arrested Charles Beeney, Jr. just after 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Sioux Falls, 18 hours after he walked about of the Beadle County jail in Huron.

Police say officers followed up on tips Tuesday afternoon, eventually leading them to an apartment complex on Sioux Falls' east side. They searched commercial areas, gas stations, and apartment complex parking lots and believe Beeney was looking for money, gas, or even another car to steal.

“We were convinced that's what [tip callers] had seen. The truck looked right and the individual looked right. And so we started looking for him,” Sioux Falls Police Sgt. David Erickson said.

Erickson says plain-clothed and uniformed officers combed the area all afternoon. The search ended when Minnehaha County Sheriff's deputies spotted Beeney in a stolen Ford pickup truck in an apartment complex parking lot.

“The unmarks went in and called him out and sure enough that was him,” Erickson said. “We took him into custody and he's on his way back to Beadle County now.”

Beeney claimed to have made a gun and threatened Beadle County corrections officers with a bullet when he walked out of the jail around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. Authorities found his clothes early in the day.

Beadle County authorities say Beeney has an extensive criminal history. Officers do not believe he had a gun when Sioux Falls police arrested him without a fight.

“It's good thanks to a couple of concerned citizens that called it in,” Erickson said.

The escape prompted a warning throughout Beadle County and tightened security at schools in the county throughout the day.